Red Wings look to keep Stars reeling on Saturday

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings hope to further distance themselves from one of the teams they are competing with for a playoff spot when they visit the struggling Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon (2 p.m., Fox Sports Net Detroit).

Dallas is coming off an 0-3 road trip and is 1-6 in its last seven.

"They always plays us hard, we’ve had a good rivalry with them for a long time,'' Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said after Friday's practice. "Their big line with (James) Neal, (Brad) Richards and (Loui) Eriksson has been excellent all year long. They really move the puck on their back end.

"The last time we were there we had more than enough chances to win and we had some breakdowns that we hadn’t had in a long time defensively and it cost us (in a 4-3 loss on Dec. 19).

The Red Wings, ninth in the West with 54 points, are five points ahead of 11th place Dallas, which has played one more game.

It's the final meeting between these teams -- Detroit has yet to face Minnesota, another club it is competing with for a playoff spot. The Stars lead the series 2-1 and have won four in a row at home against Detroit.

Jimmy Howard, who will make his 11th consecutive start in net, is 1-3 lifetime vs. Dallas, with a 2.28 goals-against average.

No changes to the line combinations or defense pairings in practice Friday:

Bertuzzi-Datsyuk-ZetterbergMiller-Filppula-Cleary (Franzen, on IR, working in)Draper-Helm-EavesMay-Abdelkader-Maltby (Leino working in)